A Gift from above
by Ponchygirl
Summary: A totally fictional story. (this is an old story that I wrote. I am rewriting it, adding in a few new things, and posting it) Jon Baker and his wife Donna are going for a walk, when they hear a noise, what they find is something that changes their lives forever. (Warning, there will be death(s) in this story)
1. Chapter 1

Twenty year old Jon Baker walked down the street with his wife Donna. They were holding hands, and laughing together. Soon they were silent, but their silence was broken when they heard the noise of a baby crying. It seemed so close by, yet they didn't see any babies.

"Jon, where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"Don't tell me you can't hear that," Donna said.

"I can hear it, but I can't see it," Jon said. They looked around. Jon went one way Donna went the other. Soon Donna heard Jon call her name. Donna came running.

"Look what I found," Jon said. He held up a small baby. It was a cute baby. Donna smiled.

"Where was he?" She asked.

"In this garbage can."

"That is just sick. Who would throw away a perfectly good baby, unless he isn't perfectly good? What if he is sick?"

"Honey, there's a small note," Jon said. He picked it up, and began to read it aloud.

 _Hi, my name is Francis Llewellyn Poncherello. Most people call me Ponch. I was born on March 16_ _th_ _this year. My parents don't want me, and don't want you to even think about trying to find them. I'm Puerto Rican, just like my mommy and daddy…_

The rest of the note had been ripped off. Jon looked at Donna.

"Hi parents don't want him," he said. He never understood why a parent would abandon their child like this. He knew Ponch didn't right that note, it was written by one of his parents.

"March 16th, that was…. A week or two ago," Donna said.

"I wonder when he was left here," Jon said.

"We have to take him home Jon. We can't leave him here," Donna said.

"No, we need to call the police," Jon said.

"You are the police. " Donna said.

"I need to call Joe," Jon said.

"Jon, can't we at least take baby Poncherello to our home, and you can call Joe there? Ponch is probably tired, and wants a nice soft place to lay down," Donna said. Jon finally agreed to it, since he hated to argue with his wife. And she was right, Ponch did look like he could use a nice good nap on a soft bed or something.

 _Meanwhile…._

Jon was talking to Sgt. Getraer on the phone, and he could hear Donna in the background with Ponch. Ponch was giggling, and Donna was playing with him. Jon thought that was cute. He and Donna couldn't have kids, so just having a baby in the house for an hour brightened the day for them. Little did Jon know, this baby wasn't just staying for an hour or so. He was staying forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Ponch had been with Donna and Jon for almost a year now. It was a few weeks until his birthday, and then a few days after that would make it a year that they'd had Ponch. Ponch was happy a lot of the time. Since he was so young when his parents left him, he barely remembered it at all. All he could remember was being with Jon and Donna. Donna and Jon had lots of fun with Ponch. They loved having a small child around the house. Ponch was a handful though. He hated sleeping at night, ever since he had come there to their home he hated sleeping at night. He just couldn't do it. He made to much noise, and he was to full of energy. Donna had quit her job so she could spend more time with Ponch, while Jon was at work. Everything seemed just the way she hoped it would be. She had always wanted to have a kid. She and Jon also loved Ponch's name so much, they didn't even try to rename him. They figured, that would be for the best. Besides, Frank Baker didn't sound right anyway. It would be easier to explain to him that he was adopted when it was time. They figured Ponch would figure that out on his own. He seemed like a smart kid. Jon would bring something home for Ponch every day after work. Jon's partner Gary came over every once in a while, but one day he stopped coming. Ponch didn't know why, and he missed Gary. Jon never told Ponch, that the reason Gary stopped coming was because he was dead. Ponch wouldn't understand that, he was too young. But Jon never knew that he'd be having to explain death to Ponch when he was still quite young.

 _Meanwhile…._

Jon picked up the phone and called Getraer.

"Hello, Joe Getraer speaking."

"Joe, can you come take care of Ponch?" Jon asked. He had this urgency tone in his voice.

"Jon, what's going on?" Getraer asked.

"Well, Ponch is sick, he isn't to bad though. I think he feels better than he did yesterday. Donna, she's very sick. I need to take her to the hospital." Jon said.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Getraer replied.

 _Meanwhile….._

Getraer showed up, and saw Jon carrying Donna out to the car. That didn't seem like a good sign.

"She's too weak to walk," Jon said.

"I'll be praying Jon. I hope you don't mind, I brought Betty along." Getraer said.

"No problem, I'll keep you posted," Jon said. Jon left, Joe and Betty walked into the house. The first thing they found when they came in, was Ponch. He was crying. He was over by the window, watching Jon and Donna leave. He looked up at Joe and Betty.

"Mommy…" was all he said.

"Don't worry, your mommy will be fine," Getraer said. Ponch seemed to buy anything Getraer said. Ponch crawled over to Betty, he reached up for her. Betty picked Ponch up, and held him. She went and sat on the couch, and held him, she sang to him softly, and soon he was asleep. She carried him to his room, and laid him down in his bed. Betty, and Getraer sat in the living room. Ponch was asleep, so they weren't sure what else to do. They began to pray hard for Donna.

 _Meanwhile….._

Around five in the morning, Getraer and Betty got a call from Jon.

"Hi, how is she?" Getraer asked.

"Not good, they aren't sure what's wrong. They are keeping her here for a while," Jon said.

"When are you gonna tell Ponch? He has been crying for his mommy and daddy for a while," Getraer said. Betty was in Ponch's bed room trying to comfort him.

"Oh, Ponch….. I have no idea how to tell him that his mom is dying. Joe, he's so young," Jon said.

"Don't worry Jon, when the time is right, God will help you to tell Ponch," Getraer said.

"Thanks Joe," Jon said.

"Ok, so when will you be home?"

"I feel like a jerk just leaving Ponch like that. But, I feel mean leaving Donna…."

"Ponch will be safe with us. You stay with Donna," Getraer said.

"Ok," Jon said.

 _Meanwhile…_

A few days later, Jon came home. Donna had died. Getraer and Betty heard the news already. They were trying to stay strong from Jon. Jon had just lost his wife, they couldn't imagine the amount of pain he might be in. Jon walked into the house, and was greeted by Ponch.

"You seem like you're feeling better," Jon said. Ponch looked at Jon, and smiled, then looked out the window,

"Mommy?" he asked.

"No, Ponch, mommy isn't coming home," Jon said. Ponch looked super confused.

"Ponch, I don't know how to say this, but mommy is dead," Ponch didn't seem to understand at all.

"She wit Jesus?" he asked. Jon smiled,

"Yeah," Jon said, he looked at Getraer and Betty.

"We might have said a few words." They said.

"You also taught him to say more than just mommy, and daddy," Jon said. Ponch seemed to be learning how to talk, much sooner than Jon thought he would. Ponch was a smart kid, he seemed to learn things much sooner than most other kids.

"Ponch, are you ok?" Jon asked. Ponch had tears in his eyes. Jon knew that meant, Ponch understood what death meant. Ponch understood why his mom wasn't coming home. Jon wished that the first year of this child's life would've been better. He hoped and prayed the rest of his years would be better than this.


	3. Chapter 3

Ponch was six years old now. Jon home schooled him. He decided Ponch's first few years of school should start out at home. He decided that once Ponch was ready for high school, he's send him to Poly High. He heard good things about that school. Also, he wanted to have Ponch around at home so he could teach him and help him learn more about God. Ponch accepted Jesus into his heart at about the age of two when he could talk a little better. Ponch was really sweet, and he asked a lot of questions. Jon loved Ponch, he was amazing. Jon thanked God for Ponch every day. He was a gift from God. Jon couldn't imagine life without Ponch. He brought lots of laughter to the house. Jon was driving a cruiser for a while, but then Ponch told Jon that he should go back to a motorcycle, because they were cooler. Jon thought that was funny, he ended up doing it though.

"Daddy, I'm gonna be your partner someday," Ponch said. Jon smiled,

"When?"

"I'll be twenty," Ponch announced.

"I'll be, like forty then," Jon said.

"Yeah, that's terrific," Ponch said. Jon smiled,

"No, I'll be old. Maybe I'll be at a desk."

"No way daddy," Ponch said with a giggle. Jon smiled, he hugged Ponch.

"I love you," he said.

"Love you too," Ponch replied.

 _Meanwhile years later….._

Jon loved Ponch, and raising him was so much fun. He was never ready for high school though. Ponch had changed a bit. He was still nice to Jon, and he was still happy at home. But at school, he was in trouble all the time. He had a few friends, but not the friends Jon hoped that Ponch would have. One of them was good, the rest were jerks most the time. They were always bossing Ponch around, and getting him into trouble. Most the time it was all Ponch's fault that he was in trouble, but occasionally it was because of them. They were manipulative, and Ponch was often afraid of them. He was scared to tell them he didn't want to be their friends anymore. He knew they'd be mean, and the last thing he wanted was to come home from school, and tell Jon he'd been in a fight. Jon didn't know any of this yet, but Ponch was starting to have hatred towards cops also. Most of it came from his friends. And everything they told him, and his run ins with them. He'd been caught trying to skip school multiple times. It was mostly Grossie catching him, and Grossie wouldn't tell Jon. Jon wouldn't have believed him even if he did. Ponch would come home from school each day, and act as if everything had been just fine at school. Nothing was ever just fine at school.

"Hey, Ponch, how was school today?" Jon asked, when Ponch walked through the door.

"It was just great," Ponch said. He didn't sound like he meant it. He plopped down on the couch.

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Ponch anything," Jon said.

"Why'd you ever decide to keep me?" Ponch asked. Jon was surprised at this question, but he figured it would come at some point.

"Well, when we found you, we couldn't just leave you in the place we found you. We brought you here. Your mom loved you so much, and we couldn't have kids. We ended up deciding to keep you. That is the short version of the story," Jon said.

"Thanks, who'd you know I wanted the short version?"

"Experience," Jon replied. Ponch laughed,

"Ok, well I have to go get some homework done," Ponch said.

"Homework? When was the last time you did homework without me telling you to?" Jon asked.

"I don't know, but I have to do this," Ponch replied.

"Ok," Jon said. He was puzzled, but he didn't ask too many questions. Ponch walked to his room, and closed the door. Jon was even more confused now. Ponch rarely closed the door when he did his homework, he wanted to be able to hear when Jon was making supper. Also, the conversation they had with each other made no sense now that Jon thought about it.

"It's not normal for him to randomly ask me that. Unless he found… the note, where did I put that?" Jon wondered. That note that they had found when they found Ponch, had never been read by Ponch. The last thing Jon wanted Ponch to know was that his parents hated him. Why else would they leave him in a garbage can, and write about how they didn't want him.

"Ponch?" Jon asked while knocking on the door. Ponch quickly hid his cell phone, and answered the door.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Are you ok? You asked a super random question, then went to your room to do school," Jon said.

"I'm fine, I just was thinking about it randomly today. I had to ask," Ponch replied.

"Ok, I'll be making supper if you need me," Jon said.

"Ok," Ponch replied. Jon closed the door and walked away. That had to be the most awkward conversation he'd ever had with Ponch. He felt like he was being awkward, and Ponch was avoiding him. As soon as Jon left and closed the door, Ponch pulled out his cell phone again. He was texting his friend Nate. Nate wouldn't stop asking so many questions about Ponch. Ponch didn't know the answers to half of them. He was a little weirded out by how much information Nate was trying to get out of him. They'd only been friends a few weeks.

"Why do you wanna know so much?" Ponch asked.

"Um…So I can be a better friend," Nate sent back. Ponch rolled his eyes. He hated answering all these questions, but if he stopped answering Nate's questions he knew for sure, someone else in their group of friends would be mad at him.

"Could you ask a little less questions? I'm doing my homework," Ponch sent back.

"Oh, I've got mine done. I could send you the answers if you want. I took a picture of the answer key," Nate sent. Ponch's eyes got wide. He couldn't believe what he had just read. He wanted the answers so badly. But at the same time, he didn't want to cheat. He wouldn't want Jon finding out, and if Jon never found out, Ponch would have to live the rest of his life knowing he cheated on a paper so he could pass that class.

"If I say no to him, he'll be a jerk. If I say yes, I could get in huge trouble. I have no clue what to tell him," Ponch said to himself. He set the phone on his desk. Soon he got another message.

"You still there? I've got the picture ready to send."

"Nate, I don't want it," Ponch sent.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to cheat," Ponch admitted.

"Oh, well sucks for you. You're not gonna pass this class. It's too hard for you. You sure you don't want the answers?"

"Yeah, if I end up wanting them I'll tell ya. But for now, the answer is no."

"Ok, well I'll leave you alone to do your studying. Have fun!" Nate said. Ponch could tell by that message that Nate was a little upset. Ponch was sure he did the right thing. But deep down, he wanted to say yes.


	4. Chapter 4

Jon finished making supper, he went to Ponch's room. He knocked on the door, then opened it.

"Hi, supper is ready," Jon said.

"Thanks, I'm hungry," Ponch replied, he hopped up from his chair, and followed Jon to the dining room.

"What is it?" Ponch asked.

"Fried chicken," Jon replied. Ponch smiled,

"Cool beans," he said. Jon smiled, he liked hearing that response. They sat down at the table, prayed, and then began to eat.

"Dad, if you and mom would've been able to have kids, would you still have kept me?" Ponch asked.

"Of course, we loved you the minute we found you. Why?" Jon replied.

"Just wondered, I mean the whole story was, you couldn't have kids, and then you kept me…" Ponch began,

"Ponch, are you ok? You seem to be asking a lot of questions about this," Jon asked.

"I'm fine, I just still don't understand why you kept me. I mean, my parents didn't want me, so why would you?"

"I don't know why your parents didn't want you. But I know that if we didn't keep you, you probably would've died waiting for someone to love you. We loved you, so we couldn't just leave you. I have to admit; at first I was scared to keep you. I'd never taken care of a baby before. Your mom on the other hand, couldn't wait to keep you. I loved you too, just so ya know. I just was intimidated with the idea of raising a child," Jon told Ponch. Ponch smiled,

"I'm intimidating," he said with a smile. Jon laughed,

"Anyway, as you grow up I continue to thank God for you. I'm so glad that we kept you. You are a gift from up above, and I couldn't imagine living my life without you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," Jon said. Ponch had a tear in his eye. He didn't say anything.

 _Meanwhile….._

The next day at school, the news had passed around through the whole group, that Ponch wouldn't cheat on his paper. Hank, Nate, James, Bob, Jared, and Vince all gathered around Ponch and Erik. They were teasing Ponch about his paper.

"What's wrong, would you upset your daddy?" Hank teased. Ponch ignored him.

"Too good to cheat?" James teased.

"Would you guys cut it out?" Ponch asked.

"Why? Can't stand knowing that you're a loser that can't cheat?" Bob said.

"That wasn't very nice," Erik said. Erik was Ponch's good friend. The only good friend he had. Erik and Ponch looked a lot alike. Bob looked over at Erik,

"You wanna fight tough guy?"

"No, I just said you weren't being very nice," Erik said. Bob was a very muscular guy there at the high school. Every time someone talked back at him, he thought they were trying to start a fight. Bob looked at Erik for a while. Erik and Ponch both agreed they couldn't wait for those guys to graduate. They were freshmen, but those guys were seniors. (Except Nate, he was also a freshman)

"Let's get to class," Erik said.

"Class? Why should we do that? We wanna skip class today, right Ponch?" Bob asked. Ponch was hesitant on his answer. He didn't want to, he'd been in so much trouble for that lately. It didn't seem like a good idea. He also didn't want to have another talk with Grossie.

"Um…" Ponch began to say.

"Just say yes already," Bob said. Everyone was staring at Ponch wanting him to join them. (Well everyone except Erik.) Erik wanted Ponch to say no, and get to class.

"Ok, I guess skipping one class won't be too bad," Ponch said.

"Cool, come with us," Hank said.

"Where are we going?"

"Where else, the bar."

"We can't go there, we're too young to drink," Ponch said.

"Who cares about that?" Nate asked.

"I do, I don't want my dad finding out about that," Ponch said.

"Oh, I forgot, you're too good for that. You'd never wanna break your dad's trust," Jared said.

"Why would I want to? I love my dad. He loves and he trusts me a lot. I'd hate to break that trust," Ponch said.

"You really think he loves you?" Vince asked.

"Of course he does. He tells me that every day," Ponch said.

"He's most likely just saying it. Your real parents never loved you. What makes you think he would?" Vince asked.

"How do you know they didn't love me? They never said they didn't. They just said they didn't want me. That could mean that they couldn't afford me," Ponch said.

"Believe me, I know. I've met them," Vince said.

"What?" Ponch asked.

"They are at the bar all the time. I've talked to 'em. I tell 'em all about my friends. They knew who you were. If you don't believe me, why don't ya come meet them for yourself." Vince replied. When Ponch was younger he would jump at the chance to meet his real parents. Now he was afraid to meet them. What would Jon say if he found out? Ponch would have to tell Jon where he'd met them at. _"Oh God why does this have to be so hard?"_ Ponch thought.

"Well, you comin' or what?" Vince asked. Erik looked at Ponch.

"Ponch, I don't wanna make your decisions for you. I think you should stay here. But if you wanna meet your parents go ahead." Erik said. Ponch was hoping Erik would just flat out tell him to do one or the other. Finally he reached a decision.

"Ok, I'll go with you," He told the other guys. He didn't want to get teased endlessly about not going. He also was dying to meet his parents. _"Hopefully dad won't find out, and I'll be fine."_ He thought. The group seemed excited. Erik seemed slightly disappointed.

"See ya later Ponch. Have fun," Erik said.

"Ok, bye Erik," Ponch said. He hugged Erik, and whispered something to him.

"I just don't want to get teased endlessly about not going. Meeting my real parents sounds amazing. Can you keep it secret?"

"Of course I can, I don't have anyone to tell anyway. Be careful though, Ponch. I don't want you getting hurt," Erik said. After that was said, Ponch said good bye again, then left with the others.


	5. Chapter 5

Ponch and the other guys showed up at the bar, and saw cops around the outside.

"Let's hide here in the bushes. Just until those cops are gone," Hank said.

"Good idea," Vince replied. Ponch was more than happy to hide in the bushes. He knew just about every officer down there. It was Grossie, Bear, Jon, and Getraer. They hid for a long time, and soon the officers were leaving, with someone people.

"I wonder what happened," Vince said.

"I'm sure my dad will tell me all about it tonight," Ponch replied.

"Yeah, if it's anything we should know about let us know." Hank said.

"Let's go," James said. They all began to walk there. Each step closer to the bar made Ponch feel sicker. He felt like a terrible person going in there when he knew better. He knew if Jon found out, he'd never hear the end of it.

"Guys, don't you even feel the slightest bit bad about this?" Ponch asked.

"Of course not," Vince said.

"What's wrong Ponch, having second thoughts?" Hank asked, with that smile that almost seemed evil.

" No," Ponch said quickly.

"I didn't think so. Come on, let's go in." Jared said. Most of them looked like they were old enough to be there. So no one ever kicked them out, or questioned them. Ponch thought that was a bad sign already. Almost as if, the person in charge didn't care if people were drinking under age.

"Guys, what are we doing?" Ponch asked.

"Well, there they are right there," Vince said. He grabbed Ponch, and turned him around.

"I'll introduce you," Vince said. He brought Ponch over to these two people sitting at a table.

"They are always sitting here. They like it here," Vince said.

"Are they drunk all the time?"

"Not exactly," Vince replied. He brought Ponch over to them.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Poncherello." He said.

"Hello, Vince, who is this?"

"Ponch," Vince replied.

"Oh," The woman said with this look of disgust.

"Hi," Ponch said nervously.

"Hi, I guess since you found us, you deserve an explanation. Sit down Ponch," the man said.

"First, we'll introduce ourselves. I'm Gina, and this is Steve," the woman said.

"Hi," Ponch said with a small smile. Vince pulled a chair out, and motioned for Ponch to sit. As soon as Ponch was seated, Vince left.

"So, I bet your wondering why we left ya," Gina said.

"Yeah, I'm a little confused," Ponch replied.

"Well, first of all, I never wanted you. Murder is wrong, so abortion was out of the question. Often times I prayed you would be a miscarriage. That didn't happen. So, a few days after you were born, when we got out of the hospital, I wrote a note. I left it with you, and put you in the garbage can. It didn't bother me a bit. I never harmed you in any way at all," Gina began.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we didn't want you," Steve said, reading Ponch's thoughts. Ponch slightly nodded his head.

"Too much money, we didn't have the money to come here every day, and still take care of a baby. So we had to decide what was most important to us. Obviously beer, and our friends here at the bar were more important than you were. We couldn't bring a child in here, and if we can't do that, then why keep the kid? Besides, you were born a little smaller than you should've been. You were also born not breathing normally, we didn't wanna have to go through a lot of money trying to take care of you. We left you in a garbage can, and didn't write too much about you in the note. We also made it perfectly clear we didn't want anyone to try to find us, and bring you back to us," Steve said.

"We didn't want anyone to know that you were ours, it's embarrassing," Gina said.

"Embarrassing?" Ponch asked confused.

"Uh, you know what kind of a reputation you get when you tell someone you abandoned your baby in a garbage can? We just told all our friends you didn't make it," Steve whispered.

"How'd Vince find out then?" Ponch asked.

"He was talking about his friends. Your name came up. We had to say something. We had to meet you, to tell you a few things," Gina replied.

"What'd you wanna tell me?" Ponch asked.

"We just had to tell you the truth about why we didn't want you. Believe me, the last thing I wanted was to have a child to look after. Steve was a little more hesitant about getting rid of you. He figured we should keep you a little longer. He said you can't be all that bad. But when you were born, he changed his mind the second he found out you'd need some help," Gina said. Ponch was starting to feel hurt by knowing all of this. He wished he wouldn't have come here. Then he'd never know why they left him, and he would never have to think about what they had said. His parents weren't anything like he'd hoped for.

"Oh, don't be upset with us. It's your fault that we didn't want you. If you would've been the right size, and breathing we might've reconsidered," Gina said. Ponch's eyes got wide,

"That isn't my fault," Ponch said.

"Sure it is. It was just the way you decided to be," Steve said. Ponch looked at them, with a raised eyebrow.

"Ya know, it's not a babies fault if they are born with a problem. You don't blame it on them," Ponch said.

"You just don't understand," Steve said rolling his eyes. Ponch wasn't sure what those two were talking about. It wasn't his fault at all.

"Ponch, listen don't argue with us. We know we are right," Gina said.

"I'm glad we didn't keep you. If we did, you'd be arguing with us all the time. And look at you, does your family never eat or something?" Steve asked.

"We eat, and I'm not that small. Sure I'm small, but not to the point where people would think I'm starving," Ponch replied. Steve and Gina looked at him for a while.

"Ponch, I think that we should stop talking," Gina finally said.

"Why?"

"I don't like you one bit. You're not a thing like us," Gina said.

"She hates you," Steve said as if Ponch didn't understand.

"I do too." Steve added. Ponch was pretty hurt by that. He had never been hated by anyone. He felt like he had, but no one ever said it to his face like they did. He was slightly grateful he wasn't with them. He didn't want to be like them, or be the same, and have to live with them. Ponch got up, and walked away. He walked over to where the rest of the group was.

"You done talking already?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, they hate me," Ponch replied quietly. Vince although he was always a jerk to Ponch suddenly felt a bit bad for him. Everyone did, they were hoping that everything would go well. Ponch never thought he'd see the day, that Bob actually hugged him, and told him that everything would be alright. Bob was very comforting. Ponch wished he could've been like that all the time.

"We should get going," Hank said.

"Yeah, we don't wanna miss everything in school. We wanna make it look like we were there," James said. They all began to walk back to school.

 _Meanwhile…_

Just the look on Ponch's face said it all when he walked up to Erik. Erik immediately began to try to comfort him. It was just the way he was.

"So, was it really that bad?" he asked.

"They hate me, they said it right to my face," Ponch replied. Erik felt bad for Ponch. He'd never gone through what Ponch was going through, but he could tell it was a hard thing to get through. Erik couldn't imagine how it would feel to have your parents hate you. He was still with his real parents, so just the story of Ponch being left in a garbage can made him start to feel bad. He was thankful though, that Ponch lived with Jon.

"Are you gonna be ok? I can come over today if you need someone," Erik said.

"I'll be fine, besides, what would dad say? I don't wanna think about this for too long. If I told dad about them, I'd have to tell him where I met them, and when. If you wanna come over, that's fine. But if you do, we don't say a word about them ok?"

"Ok, I'll ask my parents if I can pop over after supper," Erik said.

"Cool, I'll talk to ya then." Ponch said. Then he and Erik went separate ways. Ponch had a different class for the last period than Erik did. But mostly they were in the same classes, or at least tried to be. Erik had been friends with Ponch for years. He lived a couple houses down from Jon and Ponch. Ponch and Erik would hang out with each other all the time.

 _Meanwhile…._

Ponch got home, and was surprised to see Jon wasn't there yet. Jon normally made sure to get off work around the time that Ponch got home from school. It was so he could spend so time with him. Ponch went into the kitchen thinking maybe Jon was here, but left a note. Soon the phone rang. Ponch answered it.

"Hi, this is Ponch."

"Ponch, its Joe Getraer."

"Hi Getraer, what's up?" Ponch asked.

"Just wanted to let you know, your dad is fine. He is just stuck taking care of a traffic accident. I just thought I would call and tell you. So you don't worry." Getraer said.

"Thanks," Ponch replied.

"So, how was school?" Getraer asked. Getraer never asked that question, unless he knew Ponch skipped it.

"Um, how'd you know I didn't go?" Ponch asked.

"Mr. Singleton called. Look, Ponch, I am not gonna be the one to tell Jon that his son skipped school. So if I were you, I'd either tell him. Or quit doing it," Getraer said.

"Ok, I'll stop doing it. I don't wanna tell him about it this time," Ponch replied.

"So, where did you go?" Getraer asked.

"Do I have to say it? What if dad comes home?"

"Was it that bad?" Getraer asked.

"Well, kinda," Ponch replied.

"Ok, we'll talk about this later. If you can't tell your dad, you can at least tell me. I don't want you to have to hide it forever," Getraer said. Ponch hated that idea, but he knew if he agreed to it, Getraer wouldn't say anything to Jon.

"Ok," Ponch replied.

"I'll talk to you later." Getraer said.

"Bye," Ponch replied. He hung up the phone. He took his backpack, and put it in his bed room. Soon he heard a noise from his phone. He received a text. He looked at it, it was Bob.

"Hey, I've been thinking about you. Sorry about what happened today with your parents. We were all hoping things would turn out ok. I was wondering if it would be ok if I stopped by for a minute." Ponch thought about that for a few seconds.

"I don't see why not. Warning, my dad isn't home yet, so I don't know how he'd feel if he came home and found you here," Ponch sent. Soon he got a response.

"Ok, I'll make the visit quick, and if he shows up before I'm gone, I'll just say I walked ya home," Bob said. Ponch didn't like the idea of lying to Jon about that, but then decided it wouldn't hurt too much. So he told Bob that'd be ok.

 _Meanwhile….._

Bob showed up a few minutes later. Ponch let him in.

"Ok, so I just wanted to tell you, without all the other guys around. I didn't wanna go there either. I am just to afraid to tell them that. If you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I understand what you're saying. I almost said no to coming along. I was just afraid of you," Ponch replied.

"Oh, well I don't want you to be afraid of me. Also, I've always admired you. You some to be able to say no to the guys when it is the hardest. Erik is the same way, but isn't as much in the group as you are. Your ability to say no is great. Don't be afraid to do it." Bob said. Ponch smiled,

"Thanks for the advice," Ponch said.

"No prob, I better get going now," Bob said.

"Ok, bye," Ponch said. Bob said good bye, then walked out the door. Jon still wasn't home yet. Ponch was getting bored, and hungry. Normally around this time, they'd be eating already. Ponch decided to make supper himself. He went to the kitchen and began to make lasagna that was what Jon had told him they'd be eating that night.

 _Meanwhile….._

Jon came home and smelled lasagna, and garlic bread. He found Ponch laying on the couch, sleeping. It was about eight o'clock now. The accident took longer to clean up then Jon was expecting, and then the reports took a while to write up. Ponch was bored to death waiting, and he fell asleep watching TV. Jon walked into the kitchen, and grabbed some food. He ate, then sat on the couch, next to Ponch. Ponch woke up when he felt a couch cushion move a little.

"Hi dad," he said with a yawn.

"Hi, sorry for coming home so late. Thanks for making supper. I was starting to worry that you hadn't ate," Jon said.

"Of course I ate, I was getting to hungry waiting for you." Ponch replied with a smile. Jon smiled at the young Puerto Rican that was smiling up at him. Jon loved to see Ponch's smile, every time he smiled, it brought back a good memory to Jon.

 _Meanwhile….._

Ponch was tossing and turning in bed, He couldn't get comfortable, and he couldn't stop thinking about his parents.

"I need to talk to dad," he told himself.

"Wait, no I don't. I'll just talk to Getraer," Ponch told himself. He got out of bed, and changed into a pair of jeans, and a t-shirt. He wrote a note for Jon, then left.


	6. Chapter 6

Ponch showed up at Getraer's house around one in the morning. He knew that Getraer most likely didn't want to talk, but he had to talk to someone. He was about to ring the door bell, when he remembered something.

"Getraer never answers the door at this hour of the day," he told himself. He knew that Officer Barry (Bear) Baricza lived not too far from Getraer. Ponch told Bear just about everything. He decided he could try to talk to Bear. Bear normally would answer the door. Hopefully he wouldn't call Jon though. Ponch walked towards Bear's house. On his way there, he could hear people behind him. This made him nervous, so he sped up his walk. The number one reason Jon always told Ponch never to go out this time of day in L.A. was because of other people. Kidnappings seemed to happen more at night, or early morning than during the day. The last thing Jon wanted was for Ponch to get hurt, or kidnapped. Ponch hurried to Bear's house doing his best to avoid those people. Not sure whether they were a threat or not. He rang the door bell. It took a while, but Bear answered the door.

"Ponch?" Bear asked, while yawning, and rubbing his tired eyes.

"Hi, I was hoping we could talk," Ponch said.

"Sure, what about?" Bear asked.

"Something I did, I don't wanna tell dad. I would never forgive myself if he found out," Ponch said.

"Ok, come on in. We'll have to make this quick, and maybe you'll get home before he wakes up," Bear said. Ponch came in, Bear closed the door behind him.

"So, what's up?"

"I don't know where to begin. I can't believe actually went through with it. Bear, I'm just gonna cut straight to the point. I skipped school, and went to a bar with my friends," Ponch said. It felt good to get that out.

"You what?" Bear asked. He was about ready to call Jon, and tell him Ponch was going crazy. The Ponch they knew wouldn't ever do that. But only Getraer and Grossie knew that Ponch had ever skipped school.

"I didn't want to, it was mostly because of the other guys."

"Ponch, what did I tell you about listening to everything those guys tell you to do?" Bear asked.

"Bear, here's the thing. I would've said no in a heartbeat, but they told me that they knew my real parents. And that they'd be there," Ponch said. Bear looked at Ponch, starting to understand a little more. Bear looked concerned.

"You wouldn't be telling me this, unless something happened. Did they hurt you in anyway?" Bear asked.

"Just with words, they hate me," Ponch admitted. Bear hugged Ponch.

"Ponch, it's ok. Just be thankful your with Jon, and not them," Bear said.

"Yeah, but do you know how hard it is to go through life knowing that your real parents hate you. Most of it isn't my fault. They blamed me for being born small, and having breathing problems. Like that is my fault," Ponch said. Bear wished he understood what kind of pain Ponch was going through. At the same time, he was kind of happy he didn't have to be in a situation like this. It isn't something that he'd wish for anyone.

"Ponch, why can't you talk to Jon about this?"

"You know how upset he'd be if he knew that I skipped school and went to a bar? And on top of that, he's told me a million times that he thought it would be best if I never tried to find my real parents. He was afraid they'd hurt me," Ponch said. Ponch felt like a terrible son for what he had just done.

"Ponch, didn't Jon also say that going out at this time of day was a bad idea?"

"Yes, but texting or calling you isn't the same as talking in person. I couldn't sleep," Ponch replied.

"I'm gonna take you home. Don't worry, I won't tell Jon anything about this at all. Just do me a favor."

"What?"

"Get some sleep." Bear said.

"Ok, I will," Ponch replied.

 _Meanwhile….._

The next day, there was no school. Jon had to go to work though. Ponch got up a little earlier than Jon, and made some breakfast. He had made sure to get rid of the note he left, so Jon never knew Ponch left. Jon got out of bed. A few minutes after Ponch finished making breakfast.

"Hi, Ponch you're up early," Jon said.

"Yeah, I wanted to make breakfast. Oh, there's no school today," Ponch said.

"Cool, is it a holiday?"

"No, it s one of those teachers meetings or whatever those are called. Ya know what I mean," Ponch said.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't sleep in." Jon said. Ponch smiled. He didn't want to tell Jon that he could barely sleep last night. He just acted as if he wanted to get up early. Jon thought it was strange.

"Ok, you got anything planned today?" Jon asked.

"Nope, I'll most likely be here though. If I leave, I'll let you know, Ponch replied.

"Ok." Jon said.

 _Meanwhile….._

Jon sat in briefing, he was deep in thought.

"What's up?" Bear asked noticing that Jon was deep in thought.

"Ponch was acting a little strange this morning. He got up so early, and there is no school today. He doesn't have a million things planned. He seems to be more in the mood to stay indoors all alone. He never wants to do that," Jon said. Bear was silent, he knew that meant Ponch was still hurting about yesterday. Bear badly wanted to blurt out everything to Jon. Since Bear was such a good friend though, he didn't.

 _Meanwhile….._

A few years later, Ponch Joined the CHP. He had finally decided to join after lots of thought. It didn't take much thought when he was six, but as he got older the idea seemed to be boring, and not his thing. Now he finally got to the point, where he liked the idea again. He was a motorcycle cop, and Jon's partner. Ponch loved being Jon's partner, but at the same time, it was hard. Jon expected a lot from Ponch. Ponch felt like in order to make Jon proud, he had to be perfect, or at least close to it. He wasn't good at that, and was in trouble a lot of the time. Since Jon was Ponch's dad, he did his best to help Ponch not be in too much trouble. Ponch enjoyed his job more than he thought he would, but little did he know, things were about to go wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

Ponch sat next to Jon in the briefing room. The past few weeks had been stressful. They were trying to catch a guy that had murdered ten people, five were cops. Ponch was tired, and didn't want to work today. He was happy that he got to work with his dad, but at the same time, this job was more than he thought it would be. He loved it, and hated it at the same time. Lots of girls wouldn't date him just because he was a cop. Sometimes it seemed like the only people he was friends with were other cops, and some firemen.

"Do you think we'll ever catch that guy?" Ponch asked.

"We better, I don't want him going around killing anymore people," Jon said. Ever since the murders started happening, Jon began to get even more protective of Ponch than ever. When he found out that the murderer killed cops too. He even tried to convince Ponch to leave the CHP and do something less dangerous. Occasionally when Ponch was with Jon for a long period of time, he almost would tell Jon about what he did his first year of high school. It seemed to be too hard to get it out though. He never told anyone besides Bear about that. He kept it to himself. It sometimes kept him up at night, the fear of Jon finding out was overwhelming. The last thing he wanted was for Jon to find out. Normally he would've let it go, but this was one thing that was hard to let go. He hoped that nothing like that would ever happen again. Keeping secrets from your own dad was hard enough.

"Dad?"

"Yeah Ponch," Jon replied.

"If I told you about something bad I did when I was in high school, would you be upset with me?" Ponch asked.

"Ponch, that was a while ago, just let it go. I probably knew about it anyway," Jon said. _"There's no way he could know about this."_ Ponch thought.

"Ponch, why do you ask super random questions, and worry about the past?" Jon asked then pushed Ponch in the arm playfully.

"I don't know, it's just my nature," Ponch said, quietly.

 _Meanwhile….._

Ponch, and a few other officers sat around a table. Grossie was telling jokes. Ponch smiled,

"Hey, Grossie, did you know that if life were a box of chocolates, we'd all be dead?" Ponch asked. Grossie looked at Ponch, interested in what he was saying.

"Go on, Ponch I wanna see why you'd say that," Grossie said.

"Well, everyone loves chocolate, when you get chocolate, you eat the whole box. So, if life were a box of chocolates, we'd be the chocolate in the box. So, we'd all be eaten at some point," Ponch said. Grossie rolled his eyes.

"Poncherello, you are a very strange person," he said. Ponch smiled,

"You're just jealous you didn't come up with that yourself," he teased. Knowing he was wrong. Grossie smiled,

"Yeah right," he said. Everyone else at the table was still stuck thinking about what Ponch had just said.

"Hey guys, it wasn't that bad. It was a joke," Ponch said. They all laughed as if being forced to, Ponch could tell it was fake laughter.

"You know, if I told that to dad, he'd laugh his head off," Ponch said. Grossie smiled,

"That's because, you are his son. Every 'funny' thing you say is hilarious," Grossie teased. Ponch made a face at him.

"Yeah right," he replied. He got up, and began to leave.

"You aren't upset with me are you?" Grossie asked concerned. Ponch turned, and smiled at Grossie, that fake smile, that always told Grossie, Ponch had nothing more to say. Then Ponch walked away. Ponch went to go find his best friend. Bryce Kay, was about the same age as Ponch, only slightly older. Ponch seemed to get along well with Bryce. As soon as Ponch joined, Bryce was the first to talk to him, besides Jon of course.

"Ponch!" Bryce called, while running up to Ponch. Ponch turned around.

"Hi, Bryce," Ponch said with a friendly smile.

"Ponch, I was gonna ask you. Do you wanna join me?"

"Depends, what are we doing?" Ponch asked.

"That's a surprise, you just have to follow me," Bryce said. He had this mischievous smile on his face. Bryce was a motorcycle cop, and could often be found with Ponch. (When Ponch wasn't with Jon of course.) Jeb was taller than Ponch, and much larger too. He had a lot of muscle, and was super fit. Since Ponch was smaller, he was faster than Bryce, but that didn't matter too much. Bryce had a mini afro. He wanted a large one, but if it got any bigger his helmet wouldn't fit. He had super smooth dark skin. Some people wished their skin was as smooth as his. Ponch's skin was just about as smooth, but they rarely compared their skin smoothness with each other. It just wasn't what they enjoyed to do.

"Ok, I guess it wouldn't hurt," Ponch said. He followed Bryce out the motorcycles. He trusted Bryce enough to believe he wasn't being lead into something bad. As Ponch followed Bryce, he suddenly got this feeling, like what they were about to do would upset Jon. He hated getting that feeling.

"Bryce, we aren't gonna upset my dad with what we are gonna do right?" Ponch asked. Bryce laughed,

"Ponch ,you ask the weirdest questions. Why would your dad be upset about us doing our job?" Bryce asked.

"I don't know, he seems a little edgy," Ponch said. Bryce laughed again,

"Don't worry, if he doesn't love you for this. I don't know what to do." Bryce said. Ponch raised an eye brow. Bryce smiled,

"Don't worry Ponch. What happened to my friend that could careless?"

"His dad began to scare him to death with how protective he is," Ponch replied.

"I understand, working with your dad, can be hard sometimes. That is why I don't work with mine," Bryce replied.

"Smart, but I told my dad when I was six years old I was gonna work with him. I can't believe I went through with that," Ponch said. Bryce smiled again, he smiled a lot. Then they turned the corner, and were at this large warehouse.

"What are we doing here?" Ponch asked.

"This is where the murderer is," Bryce said.

"We can't just show up without back up, and do we even have an arrest warrant? Or even a search warrant? We could get in big trouble," Ponch said.

"Don't worry, I got it covered." Bryce said. He waved a paper in front of Ponch's face.

"Ok, that's nice. Why are we here alone? We are practically kids!" Ponch said his voice raising a little. He was just saying exactly what his dad would say when he found out what Ponch and Bryce were doing.

"Calm down, Ponch. I think your dad is starting to make you a little more on edge than normal," Bryce said.

"Of course he is, he is driving me crazy…Wait, how did you even know who the killer was?"

"Correction, killers, and a friend told me."

"A friend?" Ponch asked raising his eye brow. Bryce smiled,

"Ya know, Ponch you raise your eye brow a lot," he said.

"Never mind that, who was this friend? What are the names of the murderers?"

"Gina, and Steve. They are married," Bryce said.

"Gina, and Steve?" Ponch asked with wide eyes, starting to turn pale.

"Hey man, the names aren't that scary," Bryce said. Ponch was starting to get really nervous about this.

"Ponch, you are scaring me. Calm down ok," Bryce said.

"What's their last name?" Ponch asked.

"It's like Poncherello or something. It made me laugh, because I thought of….you." Bryce's smile faded, he finally realized what Ponch's problem was.

"They are your real parents, aren't they?" Bryce asked. Ponch nodded his head slightly.

"Ok, let's leave. I don't want anything to happen to you," Bryce said starting his motorcycle.

"No, let's go," Ponch said. He got off his motorcycle.

"Are you sure?" Bryce asked.

"Positive, I'm not close to them, it can't be that bad," Ponch said. Bryce shut his motorcycle off again. He got off.

"Ok, let's go," he said. He and Ponch walked up to the door. Bryce knocked. No one answered. He knocked again,

"Police! Open up!" he yelled. Once again, no one answered. He kicked the door down, and he and Ponch walked into the building. They had their hands right by their guns. Soon they found Gina and Steve.

"Hi there, we didn't do anything wrong," Steve said.

"Yeah right, tell it to the judge." Bryce said.

"You're under arrest," Ponch said.

"Ponch?" Gina asked.

"Yeah, it's me," Ponch said.

"So you're a pig now. That's even more of a reason to hate you," Gina said. Ponch didn't understand why his mom was so mean. His dad seemed much nicer.

"You have no reason to arrest us," Steve said.

"We have reason to believe you were the ones that murdered the ten people, that died recently.

"What people? People die all the time," Steve said.

"Cut that out, stand up, and spread your feet apart," Bryce ordered. Steve stood up, he was larger than he looked when he was sitting down. Bryce wasn't expecting a fight. Steve tackled Bryce, and began to fight with him. Gina took this as a chance to run for it. Ponch took off after her.

"You'll never catch me!" Gina yelled. As she yelled that, she looked back, and saw that Ponch was close behind.

"You're faster than I thought," she said. Soon, Ponch tackled her, he was getting ready to pull out his hand cuffs, when all the sudden, someone grabbed him from behind. It was Steve. If Steve was grabbing him where was Bryce? Ponch was wondering. He looked around, hoping that Bryce would show up out of nowhere, like Steve had. No such luck. Ponch was fighting to get away from Steve, but it wasn't working.

"You know arresting us would just make us hate you more. Don't you feel bad enough that we hate you already?" Gina asked. She was good at messing with Ponch's mind.

"Of course I feel bad about you hating me. But it is not my fault," Ponch said.

"We went through this before a few years back. You don't wanna fight with us again do you Ponch?"

"Of course not, all I wanted was some nice loving parents. Jon is way better than you two will ever be," Ponch said. Steve's grip got a little tighter. Ponch wasn't sure if that was because he was mad, or just for no reason. Whatever the reason was, Ponch was starting to feel some pain.

"Ponch, if you want us to love you, why don't you let us go," Gina said. Ponch liked the idea, of being loved by his parents.

"But, if I let you get away, I could get in serious trouble."

"It's a risk you have to take, if you really love us," Gina said. She was putting Ponch in a super awkward position. He didn't want to make it seem like he didn't like his parents, and he didn't want to get into trouble.

"I…" Ponch began to talk.

"Hey Steve, loosen your grip a little babe," Gina said. She came over, and she hugged Ponch.

"If you don't do this for me and your dad, I will kill you and your friend," she whispered. Ponch bit his lip.

"Ok, fine. Go, but if we find you again, I am not letting you get away," Ponch said.

"If you find us again, you are totally letting us get away," Gina said.

"Ok," Ponch said quietly. Steve let go of him. He hugged him quickly, and Gina did the same.

"Thanks, Ponch." She said. Then she and Steve grabbed their things and ran.

"I love you!" Gina called, as she left. Ponch was lost in thought.

"She really loves me?" he asked aloud. Then reality hit him, he just let the murderers escape. Was it because they were his parents? Or was it because he just couldn't catch a criminal all by himself? Soon Bryce was beside him.

"Ponch, how'd they get away?" he asked.

"Love," Ponch said quietly.

"What?" Bryce asked, this time he was the one questioning his friend with a raised eye brow.

"My parents loved me for a second," Ponch said. As he spoke about it, he was losing site of reality, and sounding more like he was day dreaming, or had just seen someone super cute.

"Ponch, you let them get away," Bryce said. Suddenly, Ponch was hit with reality again.

"Bryce, what am I gonna do? I don't want to get in trouble." Ponch said. He was starting to get really scared.

"You and me both," Bryce said.

"What?"

"That warrant was fake. I found out who the murderers were, and knew you'd not wanna come along without a warrant…."

"Bryce, I guess we are in this together than. You made us come here, and I let them get away," Ponch said.

"Ok let's go talk to someone," Bryce said. They both knew who they were thinking about talking to. They always went to Grossie first when they knew they were in trouble.


	8. Chapter 8

Grossie for once in his life was speechless when he heard the story Bryce and Ponch had just told him.

"You knew your parents already? But you promised Jon you'd never try to find them," Grossie said, finally.

"That was after I already met them," Ponch admitted.

"So, you led Jon to believe that you hadn't met them already?" Grossie asked.

"Kind of," Ponch said. Jon happened to be walking by and heard Ponch talking to Grossie. He could tell by the tone of voice that Ponch had, that whatever they were talking about was something hard for Ponch to talk about. Jon stood there listening.

"Why would you do that!?" Grossie asked.

"I was too scared to tell him the truth. Do you have any idea how hard it is to tell someone you love that you messed up big time? I mean, he says, "Oh whatever it was that happened in the past, is the past. Let it go." He has no idea what I've been trying to keep inside all these years. It just keeps getting worse and worse. I am about ready to avoid him just to keep my mouth shut about it. I feel like I went behind his back, and he'll never forgive me." Ponch said.

"Ponch, if he really loves you, he'll forgive you," Grossie said.

"Sure he will." Ponch replied.

"Ponch, he's here," Bryce said. Ponch looked behind him, a nervous smile spread across his face.

"H-H-Hi, dad," he said. His voice suddenly a little shaky.

"Ponch, were you talking about me?" Jon asked.

"Possibly," Ponch replied. Jon took a seat.

"I think we need to talk." Jon said.

"Ok, what do you wanna talk about?" Ponch asked pretending to be all sweet and innocent as if he had nothing to say.

"Come on Ponch, I know you have something to tell me," Jon said.

"Ok, dad, Bryce found the criminals. I accidentally let them get away," Ponch said. Jon looked at Ponch.

"That's it, that is all you are gonna tell me?" He asked.

"I knew them," Ponch added.

"Really?" Jon asked.

"I guess you could say they are family," Ponch replied.

"Who were they?" Jon asked curiously. Ponch started to get super nervous, and quiet.

"Ponch?" Jon asked.

"Dad, I just can't tell you. It is so hard," Ponch said. He got up and left the room. Jon looked confused.

"Ponch never has had trouble telling me anything. What is going on?" Jon asked.

"Ponch has had trouble telling you things ever since high school," Grossie said. Jon looked confused,

"Are you serious? Is that we he seemed awkward at times?" Jon asked.

"Jon, you had this image of him being perfect. When he messed up, he had a hard time telling you. You'd never believe him if he told you what he did," Bryce said.

"Oh…." Jon sat there lost in thought. He decided to get up and go find Ponch.

 _Meanwhile….._

Jon found Ponch in the break room. He walked in, and took a seat across the table from him. He looked at Ponch for a while, before he spoke.

"Ponch?" Jon finally said. Ponch looked at Jon,

"Hi," he said with a nervous smile.

"Ponch, you don't have to be afraid to tell me anything. I am sorry you have a hard time telling me things. I thought that we were close."

"We are, but when it comes to mistakes, I apparently can't make any," Ponch replied.

"No, its fine if you make mistakes, everyone does. Me expecting you to be perfect, is a little unfair. I'm sorry." Jon said.

"I forgive you, now, would you hate me if I told you I knew parents before you told me not to find them?" Ponch asked. Jon's eyes got wide.

"Ponch, I told you a million times not to go find them. I knew they'd hurt you…." Jon began to say.

"I knew you'd react this way. Could you calm down and listen. I've been keeping this story as far away from you as possible. I was really hurt by them that day. It was hard not to think about it. Sorry, I might have broken the rules a little, and left the house at one in the morning," Ponch said.

"When was this?" Jon asked.

"Do you remember that one day, when you went to that bar? You told me all about this bar fight that had gotten out of hand," Ponch said.

"Well yeah, you were so tired, though I didn't think you paid any attention to my story."

"I paid close attention, because I had to tell my friends about it the next day. You see, we saw you come in, and we saw you come out."

"Ponch, you were in school at the time."

"I skipped school, I feel like I am just getting myself into huge trouble right now. So I think I'll just tell the whole story, without interruptions. If you don't mind," Ponch said.

"Ok, and if I interrupt, I am sorry," Jon said.

"Ok, so I skipped school a lot my freshman year. I stopped doing it after that one day…I didn't want to skip school, but everyone else in the gang, well besides Erik anyway, wanted to. They kind of got me to do it, when they said, they knew my parents and could introduce them to me. This was before I made the promise to you that I wouldn't try to find them. I had already found them once, and didn't want to do it again. We were walking to the bar. I was feeling kinda sick about that decision I made. I felt even worse when I saw you and a few other officers there. We hid, until you guys were gone, then went in. We shouldn't have been allowed to go in, but no one stopped us. Vince took me over to a table, and my real parents were sitting there. I was slightly excited about meeting them. But after I got this look of disgust from my mom, I knew that I wasn't gonna like this. They complained about me, and wouldn't stop telling me all the things that were wrong with me. Before I left, the said right to my face that they hated me. It was hurtful. I went back over to my friends, and surprisingly they were comforting. Apparently they all were hoping things would work out. Erik was pretty comforting too when I saw him at school when we got back. I couldn't stop thinking about my parents though, and how they hated me. I didn't do anything to deserve it. I was too afraid to tell you about it, you for sure, would've been upset. I couldn't sleep that night, so at one in the morning, I left I went to Getraer's house first. But then realized he wouldn't have heard the doorbell at that time of day. He was asleep, so I went to Bear's house. I told Bear all about what happened. I don't even remember what he told me that night, but when I got home, I was in tears. I tried to keep this information as far away from you as possible. But now I can't do that."

"Why?" Jon asked.

"Dad, Bryce took me to this warehouse. He had a fake warrant it looked pretty real to me. Anyway, he got me to go in with him to catch those murderers we've been trying to catch…." There was a long pause. Jon thought Ponch was gonna cry, but Ponch somehow kept the tears from coming.

"The murderers were my parents. But they told me when I was a freshman that they'd never kill. So, something must've changed. Either that, or maybe they are not the murderers. I feel terrible about saying this, but I let them go," Ponch said. Jon's eyes got wide,

"Ponch, they hate you, and they could be in serious trouble. Why would you do that?"

"First of all, even though they hate me, doesn't mean I should hate them. They are my parents. Second of all, none of this would've happened if it weren't for Bryce. I didn't want to let them go, Jon. But when you are fighting against two people, and both of them are your real parents. It is hard. I shouldn't have been there in the first place," Ponch said. Jon was shocked that Ponch had called him by his real name. Jon had never heard that before.

"So why did you end up letting them go?" Jon asked a little more softly this time.

"The promised to love me," Ponch said. He felt stupid about saying that. He felt like he shouldn't have cared too much about what they felt about him. But at the same time, love from his parents meant a lot to him. Jon didn't look like he understood that well, of which freaked Ponch out. He was afraid to continue with his story. Of which was almost finished, so it didn't matter to much.

"Ponch, I don't understand, why does it matter so much to be loved by someone that has stepped out on your life?" Jon asked.

"I don't think you'll ever understand. But, when you know how it feels to go through life knowing that your parents hate you, you'd do just about anything to get their love," Ponch said. He got up from his seat, and left the room. Jon sat there thinking about that. It was starting to make a little sense.

 _Meanwhile…._

Ponch walked into Getraer's office.

"Sarge, I don't care if you fire me. I don't care if you bit my head off, but I need to tell you something." Ponch said bravely. This was the first time he'd ever been able to go all alone to Getraer's office to tell him something he did wrong without being asked or forced to.

"Frank, I wouldn't fire you for a little mistake. You seem to exaggerate things a bit," Getraer said.

"I'm not exaggerating, Sarge," Ponch said.

"Close the door, and have a seat," Getraer said. Ponch closed the door, then sat down.

"So, what happened?" Getraer asked. Ponch began to spill out the whole story. Just the way he had finished doing it for Jon. Getraer sat and listened to the whole thing. He was feeling a bit sorry for Ponch. He had no idea how much he had been through. Finally when Ponch was finished, and the room had been silent for a minute, Getraer cleared his throat.

"Ok, well I can't decide what happens to you. That is up to the captain. I can say this though, I am proud of you. It takes a lot of guts and courage to come out and admit your biggest mistakes to your boss. I agree, you shouldn't have gone into that building, without calling for back up. How were you to know that the warrants were fake though, don't beat yourself up about that. Bryce is the one to blame for that. I can't imagine the amount of pain you must have been going through knowing that your parents hated you. I have to say, if I were you, I would've done the same thing. I would jump at the chance to get love from them. I'm sure everyone would." Getraer said. Ponch sat there, surprised at how understanding Getraer was, if only Jon could've been the same way. Getraer stood up.

"We need to talk to the captain. I don't want you alone in there, so I'm coming along," Getraer said. He always had a fear of sending his younger officers into the captain's office alone. The captain was nice, but his young officers often times didn't know how to talk to the captain, they treated him like he was better than everyone in the world, as if he were like a god or something. Getraer knew very well, Ponch didn't treat anyone like that. In fact the reason he hated Ponch going in there alone, was because of his disrespectful attitude that was shown a lot when in a higher authority's presence. Sometimes he'd be good, but other times he got a little out of control.

 _Meanwhile…._

Getraer knocked on the door, the captain told them to come in. When he saw Ponch, he knew what was going on. Bryce had already came to the captains office earlier, without telling Getraer about it. Or anyone else for that matter.

"Poncherello, I heard Bryce's side of the story earlier. So I'll save you sometime. Bryce says you had a rough past with your parents. He said that when you were a freshman, you met them, and they hated you. They said it right to your face. He also said, that since then, you've been hurting, and trying to hide the pain. I know it must be awful to go through that, it sounds like it. He said that when he found out the names of the murderers, he immediately went and made his own warrants, knowing full well that you wouldn't do anything without them. He wanted to be fully responsible for catching the criminals, but he also wanted some credit to go to you. He forgot that they were your parents, and when you showed up, and he told you all the information, he was slightly afraid to take you in there. Is that all correct so far?"

"Yeah," Ponch replied.

"Ok, so you already knew that you'd find your parents in there, so why did you go in anyway?"

"I didn't know that anything was gonna happen the way it did," Ponch replied. The captain looked at Ponch,

"You never thought for a second, that something might not work the way it should?" he asked.

"Well, I thought of the possibility, of them getting away. I never thought that it would happen the way it did," Ponch replied.

"I understand, I can't just not punish you, I mean you let them get away. I know that it happened because of the fact you wanted them to love you. I know I would do the same. Joe would too, but that doesn't change the fact they got away. I am sending you home for a week, you won't get paid, you are not allowed to come here or do any police work for a week," the captain said.

"What about Bryce, what happened to him?" Ponch asked.

"Making a fake warrant, leading an officer to believe it is real, taking the wrong officer with him to catch the criminals, and many other things that shouldn't have been done…has cost him his job here." The captain said. Ponch's eyes got wide, he was in shock.

"No, you're kidding right?"

"I'm sorry Ponch, but what he did was way more unacceptable than what you did. What you did, could happen to anyone," the captain replied. Ponch didn't think it was fair still, but he knew better than to argue. Besides, he was lucky it was only a week away, and not longer. He was afraid to talk to Bryce now. Bryce would expect Ponch got fired too, and if Bryce knew Ponch didn't, Ponch didn't wanna see his reaction.


	9. Chapter 9

Ponch walked out of the captain's office, and bumped right into Jon.

"Oh sorry," he said, feeling slightly awkward. He didn't feel like talking to Jon. He'd never felt awkward around his dad at work before. They were pretty close, almost like best friends. But at the moment, he knew Jon was upset.

"Ponch, can we talk?" Jon asked.

"Sure, can we do it after I change? I have to go home," Ponch replied.

"Ok, sounds good, I'll talk to you at home," Jon said. He liked this idea, it gave him more time to prepare for what he was gonna say. Ponch walked to the locker room, Bryce was in there. Bryce slammed his locker door shut. He was really mad.

"I can't believe this! I don't deserve this!" he yelled. Ponch tried to remain calm, and avoid Bryce. Bryce saw Ponch there though.

"Did you get fired too?" He asked angrily. Ponch was silent for a while. Bryce looked at him, and began to feel sorry for Ponch. He knew Ponch had wanted this job for a long time. Bryce thought Ponch got fired.

"Ponch, its ok," Bryce said.

"Do you promise not to hate me if I tell you this?" Ponch asked. Bryce wasn't sure what to say. How could he hate a person who got fired?

"I promise," Bryce said, ready to hug Ponch.

"I wasn't fired, I just have the week off, and no pay." Ponch replied. Bryce suddenly was really upset.

"Really? Why would they do that? They fired me, I didn't deserve it," Bryce said angrily.

"Bryce, you promised you wouldn't hate me…." Ponch started to say.

"Ponch, I can't believe they'd do this! It is your fault that they escaped! You should be in more trouble than I am!" Bryce yelled. Ponch backed away from him. Bryce came closer,

"What's wrong, you afraid of me?" Bryce asked.

"No," Ponch said, his voice a little shaky. Bryce came a little closer, he grabbed Ponch.

"Let go of me Bryce," Ponch said, he was starting to get scared, and upset at the same time. Of which made him a little shaky. Bryce didn't let go, in fact his grip got tighter.

"Bryce, let go of me," Ponch said again.

"Why? I'm not doing anything wrong," Bryce said. Ponch stared at Bryce for a long time. The person he was staring at wasn't his best friend though, he seemed so much different. Bryce could see the fear in Ponch's eyes. He knew Ponch refused to fight his friends unless absolutely necessary. Ponch knew he could beat them up if he wanted to, but he didn't want to. For some reason though, his friends wanted to beat him up.

"Ponch, I don't know what it is about you, but everyone seems to like you better than me," Bryce said, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"Sorry, that ain't my fault," Ponch replied. Bryce slammed Ponch into the lockers.

"Bryce cut it out. You'll be in more trouble is you hurt me." Ponch said.

"Oh yeah, your still an officer," Bryce said in a snobby sort of way. Ponch hoped that maybe Bryce would leave him alone now, but all Bryce did, was punch Ponch in the face really hard. Ponch's nose started to bleed a little. Bryce punched Ponch in the face again, and this time, Ponch was almost in tears. It hurt so much. Bryce was strong, and Ponch's jaw hurt. Bryce started to feel a little bad. He still was Ponch's best friend, so now he was feeling like a terrible friend.

"Ponch, I'm sorry," he said, he was one of those people, that calmed down really fast.

"Ponch, are you ok?" Bryce asked. Ponch had his hand on his jaw. Bryce came closer, Ponch moved away from him. Bryce came closer again. At some point, Ponch was over in the corner of the room, and couldn't get away from Bryce. Bryce sat in front of Ponch.

"Hey, move your hand," Bryce said. Ponch wouldn't do it, Bryce reached out, and gently moved Ponch's hand. He could see a mark on his face, right were Bryce's fist was, and it was starting to look bad. Not only had Bryce hurt Ponch's jaw, on the left side, hit him hard on the side of the face. His eye was swollen shut almost. It happened so fast, Bryce was surprised by it. Ponch's nose was still bleeding, but Bryce was too afraid to take care of it. He thought it might be broken it made sense to him, since he saw what he had done to Ponch.

"Ponch, don't say anything," Bryce said. Not sure how it would affect the jaw. Ponch slightly nodded his head to show Bryce he heard him. Bryce looked around to see if anyone was around, no one was in sight. He went and picked Ponch up. He rushed him out to the car.

"I'm gonna take you to the doctor." He said.

 _Meanwhile….._

Bryce came to Jon's house a few hours later. He rang the doorbell.

"Hi, Bryce," Jon said answering the door.

"Hi, Jon," Bryce said.

"Is something wrong? Ponch isn't home yet," Jon said.

"He won't be home tonight," Bryce said. Jon's first thoughts were Ponch was dead, because those are the words or close to the words he used when Donna died.

"He's…he's ok?" Jon asked hopefully.

"He's in the hospital. They are keeping him overnight. I was upset because I was fired, and he wasn't. I took out some of my anger on him…"

"What did you do?" Jon asked with wide eyes, while grabbing his coat.

"Well, let's just say, his left eye is swollen shut, his nose is broken, and he's lucky his jaw isn't broken. It is injured badly, but he can still talk a little. It isn't broken, and it hurts to talk. The doctors want to keep him overnight just in case. If you know what I mean," Bryce said.

"This is terrible. I feel awful for him," Jon said. He pushed past Bryce.

"Thanks for admitting what you did, and telling me. I am gonna go see him," Jon said.

"Ok, let him know I'll stop by later. Last I knew, he was asleep," Bryce said.

"Ok," Jon replied.

 _Meanwhile….._

Jon arrived at the hospital, and rushed to Ponch's room, when he found out what room it was. He walked in the door. Ponch was asleep. Jon came and sat beside his bed, on the right side. A few minutes later, Ponch woke up. He half smiled, but it was hard to smile. His face hurt.

"Hi Ponch, how are you feeling?" Jon asked. Ponch gave him thumbs up. But Jon could tell by the look on his face, he wasn't being serious.

"That bad?" Jon asked. Ponch didn't respond. Jon knew that either meant, Ponch didn't want to talk, or it hurt too much.

"Ok, well since you can't talk to me, I'll just talk to you," Jon said. Ponch thought that was funny. It was the other way around this time. Normally Ponch would be the one talking, and Jon would be the one listening to him go on and on.

"So, about what you told me earlier. I am sorry that I seemed upset. At first, I was furious. I didn't want you to meet your parents ever, and when you promised not to meet them…I thought that you hadn't already done it. That was why it was so important to me. If I would've known you already met them, why would I ask you not to meet them? I guess I never realized that you felt like I wanted you to be perfect. I know that is hard to expect someone to do knowing you are not perfect yourself. I am really sorry for that. I feel like a jerk for doing that to you. It is almost as if you couldn't tell me anything that you did when you were young because you were afraid of me," Jon said. He began to apologize over and over again. Ponch forgave him, but didn't continue to say that over and over it was too much work. Jon was thankful Ponch's jaw wasn't broken, but he was sad it was severely injured.

 _Meanwhile….._

A few weeks later, Ponch was at work, he was pretty much back to normal, just occasionally he'd have some jaw pain. He and Jon sat in the briefing room together, and listened to Getraer talk. Soon Getraer was talking about something that made Ponch start to feel uncomfortable. He was talking about the murderers, Gina and Steve Poncherello. He was telling them how they needed to find them and put them behind bars. Finally Ponch felt a little better, this time he actually had permission to go after them.


	10. Chapter 10

Jon turned and looked at Ponch,

"I think this time, there will be back up. There is no way you are gonna get in a situation like last time again. But I think it'd be best that you stay away from your parents, unless it is necessary for you to be there." Jon said. Ponch agreed, but at the same time, he had this strange feeling like he was gonna be the one to find them. It was something that had happened a lot. When Ponch wasn't supposed to get involved, he ended up being the one to find the people. He felt bad about it, but at the same time, what else could he do? Jon smiled at Ponch, and Ponch returned the smile, He wasn't sure why Jon had just smiled at him, but he always smiled back. (Well almost always.) Soon briefing was over with, and Ponch left with Jon.

"You know what, I think today is gonna be a good day. The sun is shining, and you are feeling better. What could possibly go wrong now?" Jon said.

"You know dad, as soon as you say that something is gonna happen," Ponch teased. He thought it was funny, how Jon would say a day is gonna be good, and then something would happen, but when Ponch said it would be a good day, most the time it was. Sometimes little things would happen, but nothing bad enough to spoil the whole day. Jon smiled at Ponch.

"You know, I still think that today is gonna be good," he said. As soon as he finished saying that, they saw a speeder go by.

"That's a stolen car," Ponch said.

"How do you know?"

"Getraer talked about it in briefing," Ponch replied. He took off after it, with his sirens blaring loudly. Jon was close behind. Jon picked up his mic and began to call it in. Just as soon as he did, he saw a huge accident in front of him. It was caused by the speeder. He was thankful to see that Ponch made it through safely. He stopped to take care of the accident. Soon Grossie showed up. When he showed up, Jon talked to him for a second, then left. Grossie had agreed to take care of the scene, and Bear and Jeb had just arrived. Jon was far behind the speeder, and Ponch. He almost couldn't find them. Then he heard this loud sound, of screeching tires, and loud screams. It made him jump out of his skin.

"That does not sound good," he said to himself. He began to get closer, he knew he was getting closer because he could smell smoke from a burning car. Soon he found it, the car that they had been chasing, laying upside down and on fire. He also saw tons of other cars involved in the accident. No officers were found there though. Where was Ponch? Jon was worried sick about his son. Then he saw the driver of the stolen car start to climb out. He helped him out, and then helped the passenger get out too. He was shocked to see that the people that he had just found were Gina and Steve Poncherello. He could tell, because Steve looked a little like Ponch, and they both fit the description perfectly of how Ponch had described them to Jon a while ago. Gina was in tears.

"We didn't mean to do it," she said. She just kept repeating that over and over.

"What are you talking about?" Jon asked.

"We didn't mean to hit that officer," she said. Jon's eyes got wide.

"Ponch?" he asked. Gina's eyes got wide when she heard that name.

"You mean, we hit my baby?"She asked. Jon was surprised at how she referred to Ponch as her baby. Almost as if she cared about him.

"That was the officer that was chasing you," Jon said. Gina began to cry on Steve's shoulder. Jon looked around to see if anyone needed help. No one seemed to need much help, because just about everyone involved in the accident was dead. This was heartbreaking for Jon. He was starting to wonder if everyone was dead that was involved, besides the people that caused it. He still had seen no sign of a motorcycle anywhere. Finally after a long search, he found part of a motorcycle. He began to go the direction in which he had found it, and he found a motorcycle all twisted and bent out of shape. It was definitely from the CHP. Where was its rider though?

"Ponch!?" Jon called out, while searching for him. Soon he came across the CHP helmet. He knew if he found that, it must have been ripped from his head or something. The strap was broken. Jon continued to search around for his partner/best friend/son. He kept finding small parts of things. He found what was left of Ponch's sun glasses, and small parts to his gun belt.

"This must've been a terrible accident," Jon said to himself, as he picked up another part to Ponch's sun glasses.

"Come on Ponch, where are you? Please be alive," Jon said. The last thing he wanted was to lose him. Especially right after he told him what a great day it would be today.


	11. Chapter 11

Jon was still searching for the young Puerto Rican cop that was missing, and most likely injured. He was starting to freak out, and lose hope. He thought he'd never find Ponch. He heard the voice of Getraer, and turned his head. He watched as Getraer handcuffed Gina and Steve. He put them in the back of Bonnie Clark's cruiser. Then came running over to Jon, he stopped to catch his breath, and then began to talk.

"Baker, where is Poncherello?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jon said.

"Well, his bike is over there. He can't be far," Getraer said. Jon turned his head, and noticed a small area he had missed before. He walked back towards it, and there in the ditch, laid young officer Frank Poncherello. He was covered in blood, and looked awful. Tears began to fill Jon's eyes. He knelt beside Ponch.

"Pleas be alive, I don't wanna lose you Ponch," Jon said. He felt for a pulse, it was weak, but at least it was there. Jon looked up at Getraer.

"He's alive," he said. Getraer looked happy to hear that.

"Is he ok?" he asked.

"Sarge, he looks awful. He's covered in blood and looks a little bent out of shape. He looks uncomfortable," Jon said. He had this panicky look on his face. He was terrified he was gonna lose his son. He had already lost his wife, he didn't wanna lose Ponch. The worst part about it though, was this day about twenty or less years ago was the day Donna died, and she was about the same age as Ponch was right now. That was even more unbearable for Jon. How could he lose two people he loved dearly on basically the same day, while they were about the same age? He didn't understand it. But he knew that if he wanted to keep Ponch alive, he needed to work fast.

"Sarge, call for an ambulance," Jon said. Getraer left to go call for an ambulance. Jon came closer to Ponch.

"Ponch? Ponch can you hear me?" Jon asked loudly. He got no response. He asked again a few more times, and still go the same response, silence. He ripped up some of his sleeve, and began to make bandages with it, so try to stop the bleeding. He applied pressure to some of the wounds. As he did all of this to save his son, he began to pray. He knew that no matter what he did to save Ponch, the only way for him to survive was with God's help. If God wanted Ponch to live, he'd let him live. For all Jon knew, it could be Ponch's time to leave the earth. He hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't want to live his life without Ponch. Ponch had brought so much laughter, and fun into Jon's life. Ponch was Jon's best friend, even though Ponch was Jon's son. Jon thanked God daily for bringing Ponch into his life. He truly believed Ponch was a gift from above. He didn't want that gift to be taken from him. But who would? He wasn't gonna blame God or get mad at him if Ponch died today. He was simply just gonna thank him for the years that he had with Ponch. He knew he didn't deserve such a great gift.

 _Meanwhile…._

Ponch had been in the hospital for days. He was still unconscious. Jon had stayed by his bedside every minute he could. Getraer, and other officers came in to check on Ponch every once in a while, whenever they got the chance. Ponch's parents had one phone call, and they called to see if Ponch was alive. They ended up really caring. Jon thought that was cool.

 _Meanwhile…._

Jon was starting to fall asleep, then he felt something touch him. He looked up, and saw Ponch's eyes were open. Jon smiled,

"Ponch, your alive." He said. He had tears in his eyes. Ponch smiled at Jon.

"H-H-Hi," he said.

"I'll be back, I have to call someone," Jon said. He hopped up, and ran to the phone. He called the prison.

 _Meanwhile….._

"Steve, Gina, phone call for you," the prison guard said.

"Thanks," Steve said. He and Gina went to the phone.

"Hello," they said.

"Hi, it's Jon Baker," Jon said.

"Oh, Jon, how's my baby?" Gina asked.

"He's alive, he just woke up," Jon said. Gina and Steve were overjoyed. Gina was in tears. She was so happy that Ponch was alive. Ever since after they had met him when he was in ninth grade, they actually did love him. They treated him like crap, but afterwards, realized that they actually did like him. They weren't gonna apologize that day though.

 _Meanwhile….._

When Ponch got out of the hospital, and when he was feeling a little better. He went to visit his parents.

"We have lots of explaining to do," Gina said.

"Good thing I've got time," Ponch said with a smile. He sat down, and began to listen to them tell their story. They apologized about a million times about the accident, and the way they had treated him in ninth grade. Ponch forgave them each time. He was really happy to be sitting there having a conversation with his parents, and not feeling miserable. It was something he wished would've happened years ago. When it was time to leave, he felt like he was closer to them, and he actually loved them a little more. They seemed to really love him too. He would probably never be with them forever, but at least he knew that he was loved by them. That was a better feeling than knowing what it was like to be hated by them. Ponch loved Jon as a dad still though. He couldn't imagine what it would've been like not growing up, being raised by Jon Baker. He loved Jon, but he never realized how much more Jon loved him. Ponch was the greatest gift Jon had ever received. A Gift From Above.

The

End


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